Gabrielle Aplin
I am never without my lyric book. If anything inspirational happens, I have it there so nothing's forgotten.Collection: Inspirational
My parents are music fans, even though neither of them play an instrument. I was exposed to their record collection, so I love everything from Joni Mitchell to Bruce Springsteen.
I've grown up with a piano in the house, and that's where I started to be able to learn things by ear. Guitar kind of happened, and I was using it just for writing at first. Then, I was writing so much that I began to realise that I knew how to play, and that's when I started getting nerdy about it.
I feel more comfortable in a place like Brighton - a town, with one centre, one bus station, one train station. And there are so many arty, creative people, and things are less rushed, less stressed.
I still listen to a lot of the classics from Bob Dylan and John Martin, but I love electronic music as well. I'm a big fan of an Australian DJ and producer called Flume, who I think is incredible. He should be more successful in the U.K.!
For a lot of pop performers, fame and celebrity is part of the job. But for singer-songwriters, no one really cares.
I love pop music. I love drum and bass, Calvin Harris, all these electronic things, but it's nice to have something organic as well.
I feel very English. I'm proud of it. I wanted there to be a thread connecting everything, the songs, clothes, artwork, even the string arrangements. It all creates a certain atmosphere.
I write songs, and I sing them. I never formulated a plan; I can't tell anyone else how to do this. But it feels right, so I just kind of enjoy it and get on with it.
I think it's nice to work and then have success.
I think it's all about the people who listen to your music, and loving playing and writing. Once you've got those two, and they're your main two priorities, then radio and TV and all the other stuff that comes with it will come. But that's not the be-all end-all.
I just write songs and hope that they do well. I'm sure there is some pressure from someone at the label, but I'd rather keep away from it.
I love the crowds at festivals because they're so chilled out.
I still love records, and I've been fortunate that my parents bought me a record player so I didn't just have my vinyls to stare at!
I have hundreds and hundreds of people from Brazil, Chile, Columbia and Argentina, every day, buying my music and telling me about it online.
Labels fund things and have resources for you to use. But just because you sign doesn't mean you sign yourself away so they can then tell you what to do. You need to have a plan yourself before they do.
When I was releasing EPs by myself, I was generating royalties. And when I signed, I thought I'd put those royalties into other artists. And interestingly, streaming is most of the income for those artists.
I don't feel like a pop star. I like being able to live my life the same as my mates. I don't get recognised much.
When I first got signed, I bought a vintage guitar from the 1930s for £1000. I've bought a £400 SLR camera, too, which was quite extravagant.
I'm really busy, but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
I'm quite annoying and can't imagine what it would be like living with me 24/7.
I'm really into fashion, but I don't really spend that much on clothes. I manage to find everything I want at a good price.
I wrote poetry before I wrote songs, and T.S. Eliot was my inspiration. I love his honesty and try to bring that to my own songwriting.
I grew up listening to Nick Drake. Without him, I would not write music - and 'Pink Moon' is my favourite LP.
YouTube was really good for building a kind of core, loyal fanbase. I didn't want to be a YouTube artist as such. I mean, there are people who are able to release albums and live off YouTube, but I felt - and not in an arrogant way - that I could be commercial and credible if I really put my mind to it.
Before I'd even started doing music or having opportunities with my own music, I was studying production and business and stuff anyway. I knew there were so many jobs within the music industry - songwriting or session playing or working at a label - and I was really interested in how it all works.
I got my first guitar when I was 11. It was an electric, and I can remember just wanting to be Avril Lavigne! But I got annoyed with having to plug it in and play with amps and pedals and stuff. Then I got given a cheap acoustic, a Tanglewood, and I thought it was awesome because I could play it anywhere!
I met Jared Leto at Soho House in Berlin.
I'd love to write for One Direction. I think they've done incredibly well.
I wouldn't just lay my voice on anything. But I'd love to do a collaboration, like a Calvin Harris track, for example.
When I went to City of Bath College, I studied the music business.
I love the folk-rock of the Seventies and the pop of the Eighties.
It's important to have good tunes, but words are the thing for me.
I think being a singer-songwriter... your job is to tell a story that other people can't really tell themselves.Collection: Jobs
I love Françoise Hardy. She's my dream, she's just amazing.Collection: Dream
As long as we're together, does it matter where we go?Collection: Long
You are a shelf of books without the pages.Collection: Book
I think being a singer-songwriter... your job is to tell a story that other people can't really tell themselves. And I really hope that people kinda go: "This happened once and I kind of like this song because I relate to it..." So if at least one of my songs over this tour's that song, then that's really cool.Collection: Song
I've been writing songs since I was like six or seven. I've been writing poetry and short stories and stuff, but my first serious, serious song, I wrote when I was fourteen.Collection: Song
Just do what you want, I don't think you should ever... pointers and tips from people is great, and it's good and I don't think you should ever shun down advice, but if you feel something's wrong, then you don't do it. And that's what I'd say.Collection: Thinking
When you're playing to an audience that isn't your own, it's quite scary.Collection: Scary
I've kind of achieved everything I thought that I never would, so I haven't really got a bucket list. But I really wanna go to loads of different places.Collection: Buckets